March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Rambus Inc., the designer of chips for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation video-game console, won the final phase of its patent suit against Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the first step toward collecting royalties from other manufacturers.

Rambus rose $7.25, or 39 percent, to $25.86 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. After the verdict, the stock rose as much as 41 percent, the biggest gain since January 2003.

After deliberating less than four hours, jurors in federal court in San Jose, California, rejected claims by Hynix, the world's second-largest memory-chip maker, Micron Technology Inc. and Nanya Technology Corp. that Rambus illegally used information obtained at industry meetings in the 1990s to get its patents.

``This jury found we didn't engage in anticompetitive or fraudulent behavior,'' Rambus General Counsel Thomas Lavelle said in an interview. ``This has been our position for some time and we feel this jury vindicated the positions we've been taking for years.''

Hynix lawyer Ken Nissly said the company is ``disappointed in the jury's verdict,'' which is ``contrary to the law.'' He said Hynix will ``pursue all its legal options.'' The company may appeal to a higher court, Hynix said in a statement today.

The South-Korean chipmaker's shares fell 3.8 percent to 24,450 won at 12:02 p.m. in Seoul trading, while Nanya dropped 2.2 percent to NT$17.6 in Taipei.

Kevin Landis, chief investment officer at Firsthand Capital Management Inc. in San Francisco, said in a phone interview that it was hard to figure how the verdict could have been better. The firm owns 900,000 Rambus shares as part of the $600 million it has under management.

`Less Uncomfortable'

``It makes us a lot less uncomfortable to hold the stock,'' Landis said. ``It's an investment that's now working out pretty well for us.''

Rambus's victory is a first step toward the firm collecting royalties of $700 million to $11.7 billion because it gives the company leverage to pursue settlements with manufacturers, according to analyst Michael Cohen of Pacific American Securities, who has a ``buy'' recommendation on Rambus and owns 500 shares of the company's stock.

Cohen's $11.7 billion top estimate is based on settlements with all manufacturers on global sales at a running royalty rate of 4.25 percent on chips of the most recent memory types.

The verdict concludes a seven-year patent-infringement lawsuit against Hynix. It allows Rambus to collect a $133.4 million award against Hynix in 2006 after a jury found it infringed Rambus's patents. It also allows Rambus to seek an order barring Hynix from selling its chips, and permits it to pursue infringement claims against Micron, Nanya and Seoul-based Samsung Electronics Co., the largest memory-chip manufacturer.

Micron Appeal

Micron said in a statement it will appeal the verdict. A lawyer for the company, Jared Bobrow, said it will request that the verdict be overturned because it isn't supported by ``substantial evidence.''

``There are many, many fronts in which this is taking place,'' Bobrow said, adding that today's verdict is ``only one phase'' of the suit among cases involving Micron and Rambus in Delaware, Europe, and before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Lavelle said the $133.4 million award against Hynix has risen because the company continued to ship infringing memory chips after the 2006 decision, and that interest will be added. He declined to estimate how much the award is worth today.

``We're always interested in settling,'' Lavelle said, when asked if the verdict helps advance out-of-court agreements with Hynix or other manufacturers. ``We would love to turn these manufacturers into customers of Rambus technology.''

Settlement Leverage

Asked if the verdict gives Rambus leverage in arriving at a settlement on global sales of chips, Lavelle said, ``We hope so, but we'll find out over time.''

Today's verdict completes the case for Hynix, pending a possible appeal. Rambus must still pursue infringement claims against Micron and Nanya, which are scheduled for trial in January.

Bob Freitas, a lawyer representing Nanya, said he was disappointed with the verdict. ``This is one phase of the proceedings and we intend to keep going and we've got another trial on the patent issues in January, and that'll be the next step,'' Freitas said in a phone interview.

Manufacturers might not be able to avoid paying Rambus royalties, Firsthand's Landis said.

``If it turns out that you can't get around Rambus's IP claims -- that you have to pay to play -- then the next question is does the industry figure out a way to get where they need to go without using the Rambus IP,'' Landis said.

In a trial that started Feb. 4, William Price, Allen Ruby and other lawyers for the manufacturers argued Rambus violated federal antitrust laws by ensnaring them in a ``patent trap'' to control the memory industry.

DRAM Chips

The chip-makers claimed Los Altos, California-based Rambus participated in standards-setting meetings of the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council and then secretly and illegally used council information to amend its patents covering dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, as the chipmakers spent millions of dollars adopting the standard and manufacturing their chips.

Rambus lawyer Gregory Stone argued that, in private talks with manufacturers before the meetings, the company disclosed its memory technology and its plans to seek patents and license them in exchange for royalties. He also told jurors disclosing patent applications wasn't required by Jedec rules.

The case is Hynix Semiconductor Inc. v. Rambus Inc., 00-cv- 20905, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Jose federal court at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 26, 2008 23:24 EDT